Branding Thoughs

Real Estate Technology
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Branding Thoughs

Joseph Konrad
Homeowner · Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 65 posts · 23 votes

Hi all, I hope I got the forum right for this one.

Before I get started on this, I want to thank Sharon Vornholt for this great article:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/06/04/branding-real-estate-investing-business/

Sharon, your blog posts have really helped me and I know they will continue to as my business grows.

Ok, back to it. Using the great advice in that article I created a mind map to figure out what I should do regarding my websites (3 of them!) and my business card layout in order to establish a decent web presence and more importantly, not confuse people. Here it goes, I hope this all makes sense. Also, this is all hypothetical, I'll set up real names once I have confirmation from the masses that this idea doesn't make everyone's heads' hurt.

My main website for my business: joesinvestments.com

  • On this site I'll have
    • real estate investor blog
    • personal profile
    • business bio
  • It will link to
    • my personal site
    • my lead generation site
    • potential others if I decide to branch out in the future

My profile site: joekonrad.com

  • On this site I'll have
    • personal profile
    • things I've accomplished both related to real estate and not related to real estate
  • It will link to
    • nothing

My lead gen site: joebuyshouses.com

  • On this site I'll have
    • personal profile
    • blog for motivated sellers
    • contact info
    • lead generation form
  • It will link to
    • my personal profile

Also I plan on having another URL that's a little more professional, such as "joekonradrealestate.com" to put on my business card that will redirect to my lead gen site.

Thanks in advance for your input, sorry for the novel!

Joe

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  • Sharon Vornholt
    Goshen, KY · Member since 2009 · 835 posts · 683 votes
    12y

    Joe -

    This is a great way to lay everything out. Congrats for taking action. For some reason I couldn't tag you.

    Sharon

    0Reply
  • Chris Payne
    Rental Property Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2015 · 52 posts · 3 votes
    10y

    @Joseph Konrad @Sharon Vornholt Wow, 3 different websites. Seems like a lot to manage. What about just having a lead gen site? It's my understanding that if you have high-quality, consistent deal flow, you won't have to worry about finding buyers and lenders... the money will come to you.

    0Reply
  • Jeff B.
    Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    All three sites can be collapsed into one (saving registration and hosting fees).

    URL names are passe today and Google finds everything, so don't think you need a URL per concept or marketing approach.

    A menu across the top can organize the concepts

    • investor blog | joe buys houses | About Joe

    and the links take you wherever you please on the one site and can cross link to avoid duplication (eg anypage -> link to About Joe)

    0Reply
  • Sharon Vornholt
    Goshen, KY · Member since 2009 · 835 posts · 683 votes
    10y

    @Chris Payne-

    If you are using sites from the company I do, you get 3 sites in a package. ( Send me an email if you want more information.) It is really very simple to set up the sites. They are pretty much done for you.  Buying 3 domains will cost you about $45 a year at most and it is well worth the money.  

    You never want to have just one site for motivated sellers, to list your properties and for cash buyers.  Imagine for a minute that you just negotiated a killer deal with a seller (they didn't get what they were hoping for), then they see their house for sale on the same site at 10K more.  How do you think they feel?  You don't want to combine these 2 functions on one site.

    The best case scenario is that you have a company branded site (that has your company name and URL), a motivated seller site, and one for your properties if you are someone that sells properties.  Your 3rd site could also be a specialty site like a rent to own, probates or something else that you do in your business.   

    I think you only need to build one profile that includes some personal information as well as business credentials.  Remember that folks do business with people they know, like and trust so something about who you are as a person (your family, kids, interests etc. should be included.)

    You can have a blog on your company site that deals with the overall real estate environment, how you help sellers etc.  On your motivated seller site you can simply rewrite some of those same articles and put them on there too.  You should also include local events which you can find every month just by Googling "local events+ your city".  Another thing to add is helpful guides and tips for sellers.  It's a bit of work getting it all set up, but it pays huge dividends back to you. You should strive for your site to be a resource for potential sellers. 

    Don't forget about video.  Make some simple videos and put them up on your site and they will really help you get ranked faster.  

    I hope this helps.

    Sharon

    0Reply
  • Chris Payne
    Rental Property Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2015 · 52 posts · 3 votes
    10y

    @Sharon Vornholt Thank you for explaining this more clearly. I will start with a motivated sellers site and add the others over time so that I don't feel overwhelmed. I'll put an ABOUT page on the motivated sellers site so that they can learn about me and my company. 

    0Reply
  • Sharon Vornholt
    Goshen, KY · Member since 2009 · 835 posts · 683 votes
    10y

    @Chris Payne - You're welcome. 

    It's actually confusing until you understand the reasons for it. Just take one site at a time. One thing to understand is that you want to create a uniform profile across your websites and social media.  So work on one and use it on your sites, Linked in etc.  You should have at least a profile page on the different sites.  Over time, it will really help your search rankings.  The important thing is just to get started.  Best of luck. 

    Sharon

    0Reply
  • Chris Payne
    Rental Property Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2015 · 52 posts · 3 votes
    10y

    @Sharon sounds good. Thanks again!

    0Reply
  • Justin R.
    Developer · San Diego, CA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    10y
    I do this stuff for a living, and by far the most common error is believing that you know what your visitors want. The things that are important to us as business owners are usually totally different from what a site visitor cares about. Before you go investing your time in a bunch of content, measure, measure, measure what people actually do. For example, if you put a link in multiple places to "About Joe" and your analytics shows no one clicks on it, then: A- It's a waste of your time to write your own flowery bio. Empirically, you know no one cares. And... B- Having it there is actually hurting you. Removing content to focus visitors on what matters can be as important as adding new content. Follow these principles for every new section / page / topic and you'll be better off than 95% of the competition out there.
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